Triso Ferry tragedy: Bomba confirms 9 dead, all relatives with 4-month-old baby travelling from Sibu to Kuching

Bomba and police personnel unloading the bodies upon arrival at the Beladin Health Clinic. Photo courtesy of Bomba

KUCHING (Jan 1): Nine people are confirmed to have drowned when the pickup truck they were travelling in fell off the Triso Ferry ramp into the Batang Lupar river today, the Fire and Rescue Department (Bomba) confirmed.

According to a Bomba spokesperson, they received a distress call regarding the incident at around 3.14pm.

Bomba personnel were dispatched from the Simunjan station about 62km away, and the Saratok station about 98km away from the site of the incident.

They arrived one hour and 40 minutes after the distress call was received.

A live Facebook video depicting the aftermath of the incident has since gone viral on social media.

The heart wrenching video shared by Facebook account owner Dyg Junailah Leyent depicted members of the public working together to recover the nine bodies trapped inside the pickup truck with the help of a ferry and a bulldozer.

The seven minute 15 second-long video showed scenes of several men and women, including small children, appearing to be unconscious with CPR being performed on some of them.

The Bomba spokesperson said the Saratok Fire and Rescue Department team arrived first at the location and confirmed that the incident involved a purple Ford Ranger with nine passengers — five males and four females — the youngest being an infant, only four-months-old.

“All of the bodies have been transported by the police to the Beladin Health Clinic for further action,” he said.

The Bomba spokesperson said the victims, who were relatives, were said to be travelling from Sibu to Kuching.

The cause of the accident is still under investigation, he added.

The deceased are Siti Aisha Abdullah (36), Nor Shuhada Mohamad (16), Khairunnisa Muhamad (14), Muhd Mustaqim Mohd Hamdan (5), Mohd Aiman Mohd Hamdan (7), Mohd Ahmad Mohd Hamdan (4 months), Wallace Phang (7) Alvin Phang (12), and the female driver Ronany Ting (33).

The incident is believed to be one of the most deadly ferry incidents in Sarawak to date.

Meanwhile, Deputy Chief Minister Tan Sri Datuk Amar Dr James Jemut Masing has expressed his condolences to the families of the victims.

“My assistant minister, Datuk Julaihi, Public Works Department and Sarawak Rivers Board staff are going with me to the site of the accident tomorrow to find out the cause behind one of most unfortunate ferry accidents in Sarawak. On behalf of the government, I am sending our deepest condolences to the victims and their families,” he said in a text message when contacted by The Borneo Post.

“I am going at 8.30am if the weather permits.”

The post Triso Ferry tragedy: Bomba confirms 9 dead, all relatives with 4-month-old baby travelling from Sibu to Kuching appeared first on Borneo Post Online.

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